


Growing Things

by TBCat



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23020549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TBCat/pseuds/TBCat
Summary: Let's imagine Akabane Karma and Shiota Nagisa were friends before Class 3-E. Not just 'spent some time together as first/second years', but childhood friends. The kind of friends that grew up together and knew all each other's secrets in storybooks.Surprisingly, or perhaps not, it doesn't change much.
Relationships: Akabane Karma/Shiota Nagisa
Comments: 6
Kudos: 263





	Growing Things

**Author's Note:**

> I used japanese terms of address in-dialogue for characterization reasons (there is a word play thing) but otherwise I just kinda stuck to American terms of address. 
> 
> This fic assumes AMAB!Nagisa, and his mom is delusional. I think AFAB/transmale!Nagisa is equally valid though.

_ 5 Years _

Karma doesn’t want to go on a playdate. His mother ignores him while she does her makeup in the mirror. The smell of powder and floral perfume drifts out of her bathroom. Karma frowns at his toys. “I don’t want to go,” he says, “Please.” Please is a new word Karma learned at school. It makes the adults smile and give him what he wants. 

His mother ignores him. Karma narrows his eyes. “Put on your shoes, Karma,” she says. Karma doesn’t want to go on a playdate. His mother gestures impatiently. Karma throws a tantrum.

Karma wipes snot on the sleeve of his sweater silently. The bright lights and hard tiles of the hallway remind Karma of large corporate department stores. His mother holds his wrist in a tight grip, and carries a carefully wrapped gift-basket in her other hand. The new neighbor opens the door with a shallow smile. Karma bares his teeth in his own fake smile. His mother trades pleasantries with the woman. 

“Karma-kun threw a tantrum; please excuse our late arrival,” she says with a laugh. Karma gives his most charming smile in response. “Karma, tell Shiota-sama ‘Thank you’ for the invitation into her lovely home.”

“Thank you, Shiota-san,” Karma says. He hides his smirk behind his mother. His mother grabs his ear and pulls him forward as soon as Mrs. Shiota turns away. Karma follows the adults. The house smells like fresh lemon cleaner and baked goods. Karma stops at the door of the kid’s room and looks at the neighbor’s child. They are small and thin-boned, like one of the mice the stray cats like to snack on. Karma eyes the intricate braids of their thin blue hair and wonders what sound she would make if he dug his fingers in between the strands and pulled. 

“This is my darling Nagisa,” Mrs. Shiota introduces. Karma watches his mother cringe at her voice with a smirk. His own mother pushes Karma into the room. 

“Have fun, dear,” his mother says. Karma pulls down his eyelid and sticks his tongue out at her back. She isn’t even bothering to stay in the same room at a play-date that she forced him into. Karma circles his new play-mate with a swagger.

She is sitting politely on a circular rug with the voluminous skirts of her blouse pillowed around her. She has a single stuffed bear in front of her. Her face is pointing down. Her eyes are lowered slits. Karma can just barely see a glint of blue tracking his movement around the room. 

Karma steps on the edge of her dress and pivots around to face Nagisa. He collapses to a sprawl. “Meh,” Karma drawls, “Your room kinda sucks.” He watches Nagisa’s face out of the corner of his eyes and gleefully waits for her reaction. 

Nagisa stiffens. Karma leans forward into her space slowly. “What’s wrong, Nagisa-chan,” he says, “I thought we were gonna play.” Karma grabs one of her pigtails and pulls. 

Nagisa cringes silently. Karma frowns and pulls harder. Nagisa reaches her hand out to grip Karma’s wrist. “Karma-kun,” she says, tightly, “what toys do you like?”

Karma pauses. “New ones,” he says with a pout, “I get bored quickly.” Nagisa squeezes Karma’s wrist with surprising strength until he lets go of her hair. Karma huffs. Nagisa immediately pulls her hand back into her lap. 

“I’ll,” Nagisa stammers, “I’ll try not to bore you.” Karma looks at her with enough doubt to challenge an atheist. Nagisa’s return look is humorously, surprisingly cold. “Call me Nagisa-kun,” Nagisa says, “and I’ll show you the dead centipede I hid from my mom.” Karma slowly smiles at the other boy. 

_ 7 years _

The room is cold, but Nagisa can’t enjoy it. He is wearing several layers of a formal kimono that his mother spent all morning fussing over, and the bells in his hair tinkle every time he breathes. Mom and Dad are in the kitchen yelling at each other. He feels flushed and sweaty beneath the layers and layers of fabric he is drowning in. Nagisa turns from the polished wood of the dining table to look at the front door. He can hear someone knocking under the sounds of Mom and Dad yelling at each other.

Nagisa takes careful, quiet steps. The fabric covering him feels like it could fall apart if Nagisa even sneezed, but Nagisa is also bound so tightly he can only step forward in miniature steps. He reaches the front door with a stumble at the same time that his parents’ yelling jumps in volume. He cracks the door open. The chain-lock is still attached above his head. 

Karma and Mrs. Akabane are standing in the hallway. Karma is dressed in a simple men’s kimono with a green-diamond pattern, but his mother is wearing a skirt with a suit jacket instead of something more traditional. They have the same impatient scowl and quirked eyebrow as they wait for the Shiota family. Nagisa raises a sleeve-covered hand to hide his smile. The sound of shattering dishware from inside the house makes him jump and drop his hand. “Sorry, Karma’s mom,” Nagisa says, “I think my family may be late.”

Karma rolls his eyes. Mrs. Akabane gives Nagisa a fake smile. “No worries, dear,” she says. Karma turns around while the two are talking to march across the hall back to Akabane's apartment. Nagisa responds half-heartedly to Mrs. Akabane’s polite platitudes about the festival while trying to surreptitiously peek around her to see what Karma is doing. 

“If your parents are too busy fighting,” Karma interrupts, “then what are you still doing in there?” His mother pinches the bridge of her nose in irritation as Karma shoves himself forward. Nagisa tries to stutter out an excuse, but Karma ignores him, “Here, I wrote a quick note saying we came and picked you up.” Karma shoves the bright yellow pad of paper with his textbook perfect handwriting into Nagisa’s arms. “Can you change into something simpler?” Karma asks dryly. 

“I have a regular yukata,” Nagisa says quietly. He shuffles off to change while Karma quickly argues with his mom.

_ 9 years _

Nagisa is sitting on the edge of the picnic table bench and tracing the rough wood grain with a single finger. His hair is in a simple loose ponytail, and he hasn’t touched any of the strawberries yet. Karma savors a bite of one of the sweet fruits. “You’re wearing shorts today,” he says with a curious eyebrow. Nagisa looks up at Karma through narrowed eyes. Karma waits. 

“Dad wouldn’t let Mom order the female uniform,” Nagisa says. Karma rolls his eyes and grabs another strawberry. 

“So your dad isn’t insane,” Karma says. Nagisa stiffens and finally gives Karma his full attention. 

“Should you be calling anyone insane?” Nagisa says in cold challenge. 

“Takes one to know one, right,” Karma says with a simpering smile. He tries to mimic the same sing-song voice that Mrs. Shiota slips into sometimes. Nagisa huffs and steals the plastic box of strawberries that Karma is eating out of. “Is that why Shiota-san isn’t supervising our ‘date’, then?” Karma asks. He leans backwards to stretch out on the picnic bench in a sprawl. 

“That wasn’t funny the first time Mom made that mistake,” Nagisa whines, “but, yes. Dad has been threatening divorce.” Karma acknowledges Nagisa, but doesn’t seem to have a response. “I thought your parents were supposed to get back in town last night,” Nagisa redirects. 

“They did get back,” Karma says, “and then they left again.” He slowly rises back to sitting and starts to lean across the picnic table. Nagisa sighs preemptively. “Nagi-kun,” Karma hisses joyfully, “guess who just strolled into the park looking for some fun.” 

“Who.” Nagisa says flatly. He takes another bite of strawberry. Karma smirks.

“Some punks from middle-school,” Karma says, “not actually important, though, you know that.” Nagisa waits for Karma to share his plan. “Don’t make that face,” he says with a smile, “all I want you to do is walk through the park looking like the fragile little target you are.” Nagisa sticks his tongue out at Karma while Karma laughs. “And then let them reap their own reward when they take the strawberries we spent all morning picking.” Nagisa puts up a token protest as Karma proceeds to soak the strawberries in sriracha sauce, but gets moving when Karma pushes him away from the picnic table. 

_ 12 years _

Nagisa lowers his gaze and softens his breath. His hair is carefully brushed and braided into a ponytail, and his uniform still has the creases from being ironed. Nagisa drifts around the backs of the crowd, sliding past the gazes of curious teenagers. He heads towards the beacon of Karma’s red hair with renewed purpose. Karma is loitering at the back of the first-years, and Nagisa is sure that he is already picking out weaknesses among his classmates. Nagisa breathes out sharply through his nose and steps into Karma’s shadow. After an impatient second Nagisa pokes Karma in the shoulder. 

Karma flinches violently and chokes on his breath as he whirls around to face Nagisa. Then he snorts with laughter. “Aww,” Karma coos, “you look so cute, Nagisa-chan!” Nagisa frowns and holds out his hand impatiently. Karma rolls his eyes. “Really,” he asks, “even on the first day?”

“We made the plan for a reason,” Nagisa says lowly. He doesn’t look Karma in the eyes. Karma places a plastic bag in Nagisa’s waiting hands. 

“One extra boy’s uniform,” Karma says, “and I thought to include plain hair-ties, too. In case you want to replace that adorable little bow.” Karma reaches out to grab Nagisa's hair. 

Nagisa darts a hand out and squeezes Karma’s wrist. He lets go after a second of pain. “Thank you,” Nagisa says, “and I’ll cover for your absence.”

“Thank goodness!” Karma cheers, “tell me if anything interesting happens.” 

“Don’t leave the school grounds yet!” Nagisa hisses. “I still have to find somewhere to change, and figure out where to go, and,” Karma kicks Nagisa in the shin. Nagisa cuts off his rambling with a yelp of pain. 

“The bathrooms are right over there,” Karma says, “and everyone is just herding together like sheep right now.” 

“It's Kunugigaoka, Karma!” Nagisa says firmly. His expression falls at seeing how much Karma visibly doesn’t care. “Make a good impression on the teachers before you start manipulating everyone?”

“Okay,” Karma says agreeably.

“Really?” Nagisa says in surprise.

“Yeah, sure,” Karma says, “ The assembly ends at lunch and then we just have homeroom orientation activities for the rest of the day. I can meet you then.”

“That,” Nagisa sighs, “obviously isn’t what I meant, but I’ll take it.” Karma smirks.

_ 13 years _

Karma leans on his desk and watches the class scramble to write down the teacher’s words. It's a boring and simple lecture on graphing. The teacher doesn’t even bother to explain anything that isn’t in the textbook. Outside the weather is bright, sunny, and hot. Karma presses his face against the cool surface of his desk and sighs in boredom. 

Nagisa’s foot nudges against Karma’s desk. Karma pushes himself up and twists around to see what his friend needs. The teacher keeps droning on in the background. Everyone is focused on scratching out useless notes. Karma can hear the ticking of the clock behind the buzz of the air conditioner. 

Nagisa silently hands him a rolled up magazine. “Page twenty-two,” Nagisa says under his breath. Karma flattens the magazine open on his desk. He smiles in happy surprise at what Nagisa found for him; an interview from his favorite movie director. 

“Akabane,” the math teacher’s voice says sharply, “if you have time to read magazines then I’m sure you can finish what is on the board.” Karma looks up at the teacher with a flat stare.

“Yes,” Karma says, “of course I can.” The math teacher tosses a dry erase marker in Karma’s direction, and Karma snatches it from the air. The sound of his chair scraping the floor as he stands up almost covers up Nagisa’s annoyed sigh. Karma swaggers up to the board with a yawn. 

Nagisa pulls Karma to the vending machines at lunch. Karma lets Nagisa drag him through the hallway while he thinks over the specific phrasing used in the interview. “Do you have to antagonize the teachers?” Nagisa asks. He stops Karma before Karma can crash into the vending machines. 

“You’re the one who gave me the magazine,” Karma says. “Did you read about the practical effects he wants to use for the ‘Sonic Ninja’ movie?”

Nagisa bends down to reach for his drink. “It's surprising,” Nagisa replies. The sunlight through the hallway windows turns Nagisa’s hair a pale white. “Most action and sci-fi movies lately have been exploring CGI and stuff,” he continues. 

“And stuff,” Karma replies. He turns to watch the pattern of students moving through the hallway. A teacher is pushing their way through the hall. 

“Akabane-kun,” a voice calls from down the hall. Nagisa sighs through his nose. 

“I’ll meet you back at class,” Nagisa says. Karma shrugs.

“Yes, sensei,” Karma says to his approaching homeroom teacher. He isn’t concerned.

“I heard you had some trouble in Math,” the teacher says. Karma raises an eyebrow. “Relax, Akabane-kun. I took care of it; you were in the right. At Kunugigaoka we get what matters.”

Karma’s smile slides into a satisfied curl. “Kunugigaoka truly is the best school,” he says. He waves off his teacher and leaves to finish lunch with Nagisa. After school, Karma passes his cleaning duties off onto a weak-willed classmate with a sunny smile and whispered threat. He lets the flow of students carry him through the halls like a lazy river ride. Nagisa has some club that he spends time on after school, but Karma doesn’t want to deal with the rest of the idiots in the school any longer than he has to. 

Karma starts walking with purpose. He wants time to browse the local market. It’s always random when they get new spices for Karma to add to his collection. The front doors are blocked by a commotion. Karma huffs in annoyance. 

Kato Yuta is tall and spindly with a round face and soft center. He reminds Karma of the daddy long leg bugs that occasionally show up in the bathroom. Karma once trapped one under a glass cup to see how long it would take to starve. He is sneering and cackling in the face of a stocky dark-skinned boy with ratty hair and glasses. Karma takes a step back so that Kato’s spittle can’t reach him. 

“Can you move,” Karma asks. It’s hard to be polite when Kato’s voice grates against his ears. Nagisa marked Kato as current academic lead among the third-years, and therefore Kunugigaoka, but also told Karma that he is only barely maintaining his test scores through diligent after-school tutoring. Karma has found the information boring and unhelpful until now. “Don’t you have a tutor to annoy?”

Two pairs of glasses turn to Karma. The boy on the floor is shaking with fear and holding his torso as if it's bruised. He scoots to the side as soon as Kato isn’t looking at him. Kato is shaking with anger and adrenaline. A flush has risen over his cheeks and ears, but Karma is pretty sure he hasn’t actually done any physical exertion. 

“Excuse me?” Kato spits. 

Karma wipes his cheek. He looks at Kato in disgust. Kato raises his chin in challenge, so Karma obligingly punches him in the face. Kato stumbles back even as Karma shakes the pain out of his fist, but Karma wants to have fun before he lets Kato go. He grabs Kato by the neck of his school uniform and swings him to slam against the closest wall. The other student dives out of the way with a yelp. 

Kato drops something as Karma drives his elbow into Kato’s gut. Finally, Kato doesn’t sound so annoying as he shouts and begs. Karma grabs Kato by the arm and twists to shove the idiot against the wall. He keeps hold as he bends down to see what Kato dropped. It's an identification card for the other student. Karma reads it dispassionately. 

“E-Class, huh?” Karma says. He stands up and increases his pressure on Kato’s arm. “That’s rough,” there is a wet pop sound and Kato loses the breath he needs to scream, “but don’t let people bully you for it.” Karma lets go of Kato with a chuckle. The bully slumps down next to his terrified victim. “Hey,” Karma says firmly, “I’m not in the wrong here. I stopped a bully.” Karma leaves them collapsed in the hallway, and walks away with new energy.

**Author's Note:**

> So in the first scene I used japanese terms of address to   
> 1\. show Karma being a brat by being disrespectful to Nagisa's mom, and  
> 2\. show Nagisa identifying as male instead of female
> 
> Normally my works are a little more plot-driven, but if anyone could get me to write a bunch of aimless fluff it would be Karmagisa. Really, I'm just trying to get some practice with these characters. I'm still not a hundred percent satisfied, so if you can help clarify how/why you think certain characterizations seem off, then please let me know!


End file.
